Building "The Feed" at the AWS Publishing Hackathon: A Safe News Home for the Next Generation

Kaustubh — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:01:15 +0000

Event: AWS Publishing Hackathon: Build the Future of Publishing | Presenter: Team 7 - The Feed - Scroll Less Know More | Date: 3 July 2026 | Location: Amazon Corporate Office @ London

The Day That Changed How I Think About News for Teens
Today I walked into Amazon's corporate office at LHR16, 1 Principal Place, London, for the AWS Publishing Hackathon: Build the Future of Publishing - a full-day sprint from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, surrounded by developers, publishers, and innovators all asking the same question:
What does the future of publishing look like, and who are we building it for?
By the end of the day, my team had built The Feed - a safe, personalised news app for under-16s that we think could fill one of the biggest gaps in the UK's digital landscape.
The Problem We Set Out to Solve
Three weeks ago, on 15 June 2026, the UK government announced plans to ban social media for under-16s, with the rules expected to come into force in Spring 2027 if passed by Parliament. The UK is following Australia's model, covering platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and X.
The data paints a stark picture:
TikTok is the #1 news source for 12–15-year-olds in the UK at 28%, with YouTube and Instagram close behind (both 25%) - Ofcom, 2023
9 in 10 UK parents back the social media ban - UK Government Fact Sheet, June 2026
~80% of UK children aged 3–17 have at least one active social media profile - The Independent, June 2026
An estimated 2.5 million UK teens could lose access to their primary news channel once the rules take effect
The ban targets a real problem safety but creates another: where do young people go to stay informed about the world?
No safe, age-appropriate news product currently exists for this audience. That's the gap we set out to fill.
What We Built
The Feed pulls stories from trusted news sources, then uses AI to strip out anything unsafe or age-inappropriate and rewrite the rest into clear, age-appropriate language. A teen opens the app to a personalised feed of short, listenable news briefs — the day's world, minus the doomscroll.
How We Built It: The AWS Toolkit
We used five AWS services in a sequential workflow to go from idea to working prototype in a single day:
Amazon Quick Suite - ideation and planning
Kiro - turning the spec into a working prototype
Amazon Bedrock - classifying, filtering, rewriting, and scripting content
Amazon Polly - converting those scripts into natural-sounding audio
Amazon S3 - storing and delivering the final files
Idea to working prototype, in one day.
What's Next
In less than a year, an estimated 2.5 million UK teenagers could lose their primary news source. The window is open. The need is urgent. The tools exist.
Scroll Less. Know More.
Special mentions to my teammates for the great collaboration: Chris Fane, Brittany Vonov, Olivia Burney, Eve K Altes.
References
Ofcom (2023). News Consumption in the UK. TikTok identified as #1 news source for 12–15-year-olds at 28%; YouTube and Instagram at 25%.
UK Government (June 2026). Fact Sheet: New Rules to Protect Children Online. 9 in 10 parents back the social media ban.
The Guardian (June 2026). Impact of social media ban for under-16s in UK hinges on how firm it is.
The Independent (June 2026). ~80% of UK children aged 3–17 have active social media profiles.
UK Parliament, House of Commons Library (June 2026). Proposals to ban social media for children. Ban announced 15 June 2026; expected in place by early 2027 (government target: Spring 2027).

DEV Community: Kaustubh

Building "The Feed" at the AWS Publishing Hackathon: A Safe News Home for the Next Generation